Spring commencement ceremony to be held at Stan Sheriff Center on May 12

Distinguished alumni and business executive to serve as commencement speakers

UH Mānoa alumni Dr. Claire Asam, Trustee of the Queen Lili'uokalani Trust and Dr. J. Kuhio Asam, Executive Director of Lunalilo Home & Trust, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Hawai‘i Foundation, will be the featured speakers at the undergraduate degree ceremony at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa on Saturday, May 12, at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The undergraduate ceremony is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. (student procession begins at 8:30 a.m.), and will end at noon. More than 1,400 students are eligible to receive bachelor’s degrees at the undergraduate ceremony. Honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters will also be awarded to philanthropists and educators Bernard and Barbro Osher.

Later in the day, from 3-5 p.m., master’s and doctor’s degrees and post-baccalaureate certificates in secondary education will be awarded to nearly 800 graduate degree candidates. Anton Krucky, co-founder and President/CEO of Tissue Genesis, Inc. will be the speaker at the afternoon ceremony and dedicated public servant U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka and internationally renowned author Haruki Murakami will receive honorary degrees.

Undergraduate Ceremony:

Jenna Robinson, candidate for a Bachelor of Arts in history and ethnic studies, will be student speaker. A member of the UH Mānoa track and field team, Hawaiian Ensemble, the Ethnic Studies Student Association, and the History Honors Society Phi Alpha Theta, Robinson has worked as a Resident Advisor for the past two years. In addition to her studies, Robinson is also an intern and researcher for the African American Diversity Cultural Center of Hawai‘i working on empowering the local African American youth through artistic expression. She is the only one of her parents’ seven children to graduate from college.

Presidential Scholar graduates are Lihua Keating and Mari Kuboyama. The Board of Regents established the Regents’ and Presidential Scholarships in 1987 as the University’s first full scholarships based solely on academic excellence and reserved for Hawai‘i’s best high school and community college students.

Logistics:

Doors to the Stan Sheriff Center will open at 7:45 a.m. for the undergraduate ceremony and at 1:45 p.m. for the advanced degree ceremony. Both events are free and open to the public. No tickets are issued, and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Balloons and strollers are not allowed inside the Stan Sheriff Center.

Free parking will be available in the lower campus parking structure, which will open at 6 a.m. Parking shuttle service will be provided for the undergraduate ceremony only. No shuttle service will be provided during the advanced degree ceremony. The shuttle buses are wheelchair accessible and run a continuous route from the Biomedical Science Building to Krauss Circle.

Friends and family members may greet graduates following the ceremony on the football practice field (surnames A-L) and the soccer practice field (M-Z).Authorized lei vendors will be located in the areas. Authorized lei vendors will be located in the area.